H.R. 261 (119th)Bill Overview

Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025

Public Lands and Natural Resources|Broadcasting, cable, digital technologiesMarine and coastal resources, fisheries
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 9, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief

<p><strong>Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill prohibits the Department of Commerce from enforcing certain permit requirements for activities&nbsp;related to undersea fiber optic cables in national marine sanctuaries.&nbsp;</p><p>Specifically, Commerce may not prohibit or&nbsp;require an authorization for any covered activities related to undersea fiber optic cables if a license, lease, or permit has been issued by a&nbsp;state or federal agency to authorize&nbsp;the covered activity.

Covered activities are the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary.</p><p>The bill also authorizes Commerce to direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to engage in interagency cooperation regarding federal agency actions that are likely to destroy, cause the loss of, or injure a resource in a national marine sanctuary and involve covered activities.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Passage64/100

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Who this appears to help vs burden0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened
Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
Congressional Budget Office

CBO cost estimate

The clearest budget scorecard attached to this bill: what it changes for direct spending, revenue, and the deficit.

As reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July 2, 2025

03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood64/100

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is reproducing that support in the other chamber.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has already passed one chamber, which is a stronger signal than introduction alone but still leaves another major hurdle ahead.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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